Number Plate Fetches AED 33 Million at Dubai Auction

A Dubai businessman paid a staggering AED 33 million for a new number plate at an auction conducted by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). Balwinder Sahani, an Indian businessman who owns a property management company named RSG International added his latest acquisition, D5 9 to his growing collection of distinctive numberplates. But D5 is his most expensive number plate so far and rounds out his collection to ten numberplates. He will use the new numberplate for one of his Rolls Royces.Sahani purchased another number plate at the same auction for AED 1 million.

The starting bid for the coveted numberplate at the bi-monthly auction which was attended three hundred bidders was AED 20 million. About 20 license plates were available for bidding and all the proceeds of the auction would go to the RTA. In the UAE, owning a rare number plate or a vanity plate is considered as a status symbol.

Though AED 33 million is quite a big amount, it did not set a record. That feat was achieved by busiinessman Saeed Al Khouri who paid a record AED 52 million for the No 1 licence plate in Abu Dhabi, back in 2008. The closest figure this year was paid out when Emirati businessman Arif Al Zarooni bought the No 1 plate in Sharjah for AED 18 million this year.